A hybrid NSGA-II algorithm for the closed-loop supply chain network design in e-commerce

Abstract

Designing the supply chain network is one of the significant areas in e-commerce business management. This concept plays a crucial role in e-commerce systems. For example, location-inventory-pricing-routing of an e-commerce supply chain is considered a crucial issue in this field. This field established many severe challenges in the modern world, like maintaining the supply chain for returned items, preserving customers' trust and satisfaction, and developing an applicable supply chain with cost considerations. The research proposes a multi-objective mixed integer nonlinear programming model to design a closed-loop supply chain network based on the e-commerce context. The proposed model incorporates two objectives that optimize the business's total profits and the customers' satisfaction. Then, numerous numerical examples are generated and solved using the epsilon constraint method in GAMS optimization software. The validation of the given model has been tested for the large problems via a hybrid two-level non-dominated sort genetic algorithm. Finally, some sensitivity analysis has been performed to provide some managerial insights.